Au Revoir, Les Enfants

Louis Malle’s 1987 film is a wonderful companion piece to “Lacombe, Lucien,” his 1973 drama of life under the Nazi occupation. In this superb semi-autobiographical film, a tale of innocence and betrayal set in a French provincial Catholic boarding school, Malle’s grand, understated strategy reveals anti-Semitism deeply embedded in the society’s social fabric. So flawless and overwhelming is “Au Revoir” that it is tempting to call it Malle’s masterpiece. Pictured above are three Jewish students (from left, Raphael Fejto, Damien Salot and Arnaud Henriet) flanked by a priest who sheltered them (Philippe Morier-Genoud) and a German soldier. (Movie Channel Thursday at 11 a.m.)